Study Reveals Military Members More Likely to Cause Car Accidents After Deployments

Members of the Army and Marine Corps are often taught aggressive driving techniques while they’re deployed in areas like Iraq and Afghanistan. And according to insurance company USAA, they’re bringing those driving habits home — and causing more accidents as a result.

The USAA survey reveals that compared to the six months prior to their deployments, war veterans have gotten into 13 percent more accidents at which they’re at fault during their first six months back home in the US.

Although all branches of the military saw elevated accident rates, they were most common among Army and Marine members who learned to drive aggressively overseas in order to avoid roadside bombs. While that type of driving may have saved their lives during deployments, it’s being blamed for up to 23 percent higher accident rates once they’re back on US roads.

Veterans who are 22 and younger had more crashes than those over the age of 29 and lower-ranked military members were more likely to be involved in such accidents than higher-ranked officers.

In addition, elevated accident rates were tied to a higher number of deployments — those who’d been deployed just once were involved in 12 percent more mishaps on the road, compared to the 36 percent increase experienced by those who’d been deployed three times or more.